Lebanon

A collection of 45 posts

Israel Says Iran Constructing Airport in South Lebanon

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant alleged Monday that Iran is constructing an airport in southern Lebanon next to the border village of Birket Jabbour to use as a platform to launch attacks against Israel....

World

Lebanon: Ceasefire Announced in Palestinian Refugee Camp

After a week of violent armed clashes between members of the Fatah movement — which makes up the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank — and Islamist groups in the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp outside of the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon, a ceasefire was reportedly agreed upon on Thursday. Th...

Military

Libya Asks Lebanon to Release Gaddafi's Son

Libya’s judicial officials formally asked Lebanon on Monday to release one of Muammar Gaddafi’s sons, Hannibal Gaddafi, due to health complications following a hunger strike he has been on since June 3.

Libya

US, UK, Canada Sanction Lebanon's Former Central Bank Governor

On Thursday, the US, the UK, and Canada revealed that they would be placing sanctions on Riad Salameh, the former governor of Lebanon's central bank, following accusations of corruption.

Politics

Lebanon: Armed Clashes Between Hezbollah, Christian Villagers Leave 2 Dead

An armed clash broke out Wednesday between residents of the Christian town of Kahaleh and Hezbollah fighters, leaving one dead on each side, after a truck escorted by the militant group turned over on the highway that links Beirut to the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Social issues

Lebanese Army Warns It May Intervene Amid Palestinian Clashes

Caretaker Lebanese PM Najib Mikati called Palestinian Pres. Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday to demand an end to the fighting that has raged in the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp outside of the coastal city of Sidon, warning that the Lebanese army may soon intervene.

Politics

Lebanon: Clashes in Palestinian Camp Kill at Least 9

At least nine people were killed, and 37 others were injured, including children, after fighting broke out on Sunday in Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon.

World

Israel Strikes Lebanon After Rocket Fire

Only a day after Israel ended its largest military operation in the West Bank in two decades, rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward Israel, leading the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to shell Lebanon in "the area from which the launch was carried out."

Military

Lebanon: Protesters Vandalize Banks, Demand Their Money Back

Protesters in Lebanon vandalized several banks in the Beirut suburb of Sin el-Fil on Thursday, setting fire to tires and destroying windows as depositors demand access to savings they have been locked out of for almost four years.

Social issues

Lebanon Fails to Elect President for 12th Time, Hezbollah Breaks Quorum

On its twelfth attempt, Lebanon's 128-member parliament failed to elect a president after a bloc led by the powerful Iran-backed political party and militant group Hezbollah withdrew following the first round of voting, breaking quorum and preventing a second round vote.

World

Lebanon Accuses 5 of Killing UN Peacekeeper

A Lebanese military court charged five men on Friday for the killing of Séan Rooney, a 24-year-old Irish soldier deployed last year with the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), after the armored convoy in which he was riding came under fire while traveling to Beirut.

Social issues

Lebanon: 5 Palestinian Fighters Killed in Blast

Officials representing the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), a Syrian-backed Palestinian armed group, reported that five of its members were killed and 10 others wounded on Wednesday in the Lebanese town of Qusaya near the Syrian border.

Lebanon

Report: 14M Syrian Refugees at Risk of Losing Homes

According to a report from the nonprofit watchdog Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) released on Thursday, as many as 14M Syrian refugees face massive obstacles to returning to their homes as the Syrian state has the authority to lawfully seize land and property.

Social issues

Lebanon Receives Interpol Notice for Central Bank Governor

Interpol issued a "Red Notice" for Lebanon’s central bank governor Riad Salameh on Wednesday, which the country’s interior ministry received the following day and forwarded to the judiciary. Salameh is accused of embezzling hundreds of millions of public funds, which he denies.

Lebanon

Hezbollah and Hamas Chiefs Meet in Beirut

After arriving in the Lebanese capital on Wednesday, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Palestinian armed movement Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, met with Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed political party and armed group, according to a Hezbollah statement released o...

Israel

Israel Strikes Gaza and South Lebanon Following Rocket Fire

Israel's military launched strikes against targets in Lebanon and Gaza early on Friday following a barrage of rockets that were fired from south Lebanon as tensions at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque continue to worsen following Israeli police raids....

Israel

Canada Repatriates 14 Citizens From Syrian Camps

On Thursday, Canada's government repatriated 14 Canadians – four women and ten children – from Islamic State (IS) detention camps in northeast Syria....

Immigration & refugees

Top Iranian, Saudi Envoys Meet in China

Following China's mediation of a deal to restore relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia last month, the foreign ministers of both nations met in Beijing on Thursday for the first formal gathering of their top diplomats since 2016, when relations between the two countries became highly contentiou...

Yemen

Israeli Police Again Clash with Palestinians at Al-Aqsa Mosque

Israeli police again raided Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque late Wednesday night — the second such raid in 24 hours — after the first led to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip firing at least nine rockets into Israel. Israel responded with air strikes that hit what it said were weapon product...

Israel

Syrian State Media: Another Israeli Strike on Damascus Kills 2 Civilians

Syria's official state news agency (SANA), citing a military source, reported that an Israeli strike on Damascus and its southern environs left two civilians dead and 'some material damage.' [The attack immediately followed a series of air strikes and security incidents over the weekend.]...

Israel

ICJ: US to Pay Compensation For Frozen Iranian Assets

On Thursday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered the US to pay compensation to Iranian companies after ruling that Washington had illegally allowed courts to freeze their assets....

Politics

Lebanon: Govt. Reverses Decision Delaying Daylight Savings

Lebanese caretaker PM Najib Mikati on Monday reversed his decision to delay daylight savings time in Lebanon until the end of the holy month of Ramadan, announcing that clocks would go forward by one hour overnight on Wednesday after confusion engulfed the country.

Social issues

US Judge Orders $1.68B Payout Over 1983 Beirut Bombing

On Wednesday, a US federal judge ordered that Iran's central bank and a European intermediary must pay out $1.68B to the family members of soldiers killed in the 1983 bombing of a US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut.

Military

Lebanon’s Central Bank Chief Appears Before Corruption Hearing

European investigators on Thursday questioned Riad Salameh, the Governor of Lebanon's Central Bank [BDL], probing his personal wealth and allegedly suspicious financial transfers abroad. Salameh has held his post for three decades, making him one of the world's longest-serving central bank govern...

Politics

Israel Army: Bomber Suspected of Coming From Lebanon Killed

The Israeli army announced that an armed man suspected of entering the country via Lebanon blew up a car before being killed by Israeli forces not long after, raising the risk of renewed tensions with Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite armed group and political party....

Israel